


Azure and Emerald

by Kate_Shepard



Series: Azure [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drugs, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mildly Dubious Consent, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn, Porn with Feelings, Shrios, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 07:04:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8046910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate_Shepard/pseuds/Kate_Shepard
Summary: Aria T'Loak hates owing people and she owes Shepard for warning her of the mercenary groups' planned overthrow of her kingdom. She decides to play matchmaker...in a very Aria kind of way.
A retelling of Azure with Thane rather than Garrus by request from Talaraine.





	1. Chapter 1

Shore leave on Omega was not Shepard’s idea of fun. She scanned the crowd gathered at Afterlife. The orange glow and the fact that it was on Omega always made her expect and even think of the place as filthy, but the truth was that Aria ran her business like the consummate professional. The bar was clean. The patrons didn’t dare cause significant or overt trouble. The dancers were not only well-compensated; they were directly under Aria’s protection. Even the restrooms were, well…not disgusting. There were too many elcor and krogan for them to be pleasant but they were better than she expected.

When Feron took a seat beside her, she tried to focus on his words. He was thanking her again for helping Liara rescue him and she knew she should respond. They’d become friends during her visits to the vid room on the Shadow Broker’s base and she had always enjoyed spending time with him and even thought him objectively attractive, though she was all but certain it was due to his resemblance to Thane. Now, however, his gravelly voice was doing strange things to her heart rate and his shoulder brushing against her sent warmth racing down her arm. He wasn’t as attractive as Thane, but her drell crewmate was the definition of reserved while Feron was far more open.

She had begun to suspect that Liara’s interest in him was more than friendly and that would normally be enough to deter her, but her inhibitions seemed to have disappeared somewhere along with the second drink the surprisingly friendly batarian bartender had made her. Liara hadn’t claimed him and had never overtly said or done anything to imply interest. Hell, when Shepard had asked her, she’d claimed she wasn’t interested in him that way. Shepard was sure it had been in part due to his condition at the time but he was significantly improved now and Liara still hadn’t made a move. Shepard knew from experience that Liara wasn’t hesitant to show her interest in someone when she wanted them.

Feron gave her a sideways look as she leaned in closer to him. She could feel the solidity of his body and that musky undertone that she’d come to associate with drell seeped into her heightened senses and sent another wave of heat through her. He eyed her curiously and the batarian prepared her another drink while talking surreptitiously into his comm unit. Normally, that would have made her uneasy, especially here on Omega where she refused to step foot without her armor and a full complement of weapons, but she registered it only peripherally. Her entire focus was on the drell in front of her.

Shepard wasn’t promiscuous by any standards but she wasn’t a prude, either. She didn’t indulge in one-night stands but she was…enthusiastic when in a relationship. It had been a long time since she’d had one of those, though, and she’d spent far too much time waiting for her favorite drell to realize that she was a woman and alive unlike his dead wife. Perhaps it was time to let loose a little.

___

Thane looked down at his beeping omni-tool. He was not a particularly social person at the best of times and he disliked this station and wanted nothing more than to return to the ship. He was not in the mood to entertain the crew. The caller was persistent, though, and he eventually activated his omni-tool to accept the vid call. It could be Shepard or someone needing assistance. To say that he was surprised to see Aria T’Loak on the line was a definite understatement. He couldn’t think of any good reason why the pirate queen of Omega would want to speak to him. Not only did she want to speak to him, she’d wanted to do so badly enough that she had called directly rather than sending one of her lackeys after him. It served the additional purpose of letting him know that his omni-tool wasn’t as secure as he’d thought. He would have to take another look at his security.

His voice was steady as he said, “Aria.”

“Sere Krios,” she purred. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to answer.”

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“Straight to business,” she said. “My kind of guy. Your commander seems to have been…exposed to something. You might want to go find her. Lower bar. I suggest you hurry, especially if she values her friendship with that little asari of hers.”

Thane was moving before she’d finished speaking. He considered calling for backup but didn’t think any of the others would be able to respond in time. His mind raced with possibilities as he placed a call to Mordin. “Afterlife. Now,” he said when the salarian answered. “Shepard has been exposed to something. She has probably been poisoned.” There was a batarian downstairs with a history of poisoning humans. If he had harmed Shepard, Thane would kill him without hesitation.

“On my way,” Mordin answered quickly.

When he reached the bar, he looked around for Shepard. His eye caught on the deep green of her armor. She was leaning up against a very confused-looking Feron and nuzzling his dark throat. Feron appeared torn between the desire to push her away and to draw her closer. His eyes darted about the room as though looking for escape. Thane ignored the pang of something he refused to identify as jealousy and came to a sudden halt. She didn’t look poisoned or ill. In fact, she looked like she was enjoying herself. However, this behavior was very unlike her and his instincts insisted that she was in trouble and simply fortunate that it was Feron who’d caught her attention rather than the turian with the bondmark who was eyeing her from across the bar. She was affectionate with her crew but he had never seen her act like this. She was very reserved in public and he had never even seen her with a man—or a woman, for that matter. She was so very non-sexual in her interactions that he generally didn’t even think of her as having the same needs as everyone else.

He evaluated the situation with the eyes of a trained killer rather than a friend. Her eyes were slightly glazed and her inhibitions were significantly lowered. Her pulse beat visibly in her throat and her face was flushed. Alcohol was a depressant for humans, so her pulse shouldn’t be racing the way it was. That could be due to arousal but she was also far less attentive to her surroundings than he’d ever seen her. Shepard never let her guard down on Omega. There were three empty glasses on the bar near her elbow. It was possible that she’d had more than that but unlikely as the batarian wasn’t particularly concerned about clearing the empty glasses away. He had seen Shepard down more than three shots of ryncol and remain standing and the color of the liquid in the bottom of one of the glasses told him that whatever she was drinking wasn’t as strong as that. Alcohol shouldn’t be affecting her behavior to this extent.

She had been exposed to something but it wasn’t poison. He mentally ran through a list of drugs that could cause this kind of reaction as he walked up to the pair. Her scent hit him immediately. After everything they had been through together, he was very familiar with the combination of gun oil, sweet-smelling soap, and unique pheromones that uniquely identified her. Her pheromones now, however, were different. They were stronger than normal and there was something about them that was almost similar in a way to the asari dancers’.

Asari appealed to almost every species for one reason or another. Their shape was appealing to humans and drell. The crest on their heads were similar to turian fringe. Their lifespans were comparable to krogan. Their mind melding capabilities were preferable to actual sex for the salarians. Their pheromones were attractive to all of the species who had the ability to smell them.

There was only one possibility that explained everything and it made him want to pop the batarian’s eyes out one by one before snapping his neck. The drug was an asari one that had been developed in a medical lab in an effort to find a way to counteract declining sex drives in females. Males of every species had access to medications that could help with impotence. Females, for the most part, didn’t. This drug was meant to change that. However, the formula had made it out of the lab before it had been perfected and was now used as a popular date-rape drug. Rather than render the victim unaware, it made them active participants.

To make matters worse, the pheromones the victim released were the same cocktail that asari produced which had elements of turian, krogan, drell, and salarian female heat hormones. Those hormones were supposed to tailor themselves to the person’s partner but hadn’t yet been refined beyond species. Thus, anyone dosed with the drug was inadvertently advertising availability and simultaneously unable to turn down the interest she received. Shepard was completely at the mercy of a body that was telling her that it was imperative to breed and, apparently, her preferred species was drell.

He stepped in and caught Feron’s look of combined relief and dismay and said, “Siha, I believe that Feron wishes to leave.” 

Shepard looked up and smiled seductively at him. “Thane,” she crooned in a voice that went straight to his groin. He cursed inwardly and called on the discipline that had been trained into him since he was six years old.

“Shepard,” he said as she pushed away from Feron and sauntered up to him. _Arashu, grant me strength,_ he thought. He said, “Come with me, Commander,” and put an arm around her to steer her away.

“Ooh, you are sexy when you take control,” she said, wrapping an arm around his waist and standing on tiptoe to nuzzle his frill. “Jealous? I can hear you rumbling, you know.” She tapped her ear and said, “Cerberus fixed my hearing a little better than they anticipated, I think.”

Were her actions deliberate? Her mouth was brushing against his frill in a way that would have been unquestionably suggestive had she been drell. The sensation was not at all unpleasant. “No, Siha. I am secure in your estimation of my importance.”

She looked up at him and he realized how very small she was. Her personality was so forceful that it disguised how diminutive her body really was until he had her flush against him. She had to look up at him from this angle. “You are very important to me,” she said with a smile that he didn’t know how to interpret.

Mordin met them at the door and summed up the situation in a glance. “Not poison. Azure. Problematic. No antidote. Get her to ship. Will see what I can do.”

“What’s he talking about now?” Shepard asked Thane.

“I will explain fully when we get back to the Normandy,” he promised.

Shepard continued her flirtations as they walked back to the ship and he was glad for the doctor’s presence and his STG training because Thane was dismayed to discover that she had managed to make his concentration waver. The territorial growl that came from him whenever another male stopped and began to move in their direction was far less affected than he wanted to admit.

He did not understand his own reaction. Shepard was his commander, the first friend he had made in ten years, and a person for whom he had the utmost respect. The idea of being with her was ridiculous. It almost seemed sacrilegious to think of her in that way. She needed his friendship and support. That was it. She certainly deserved better than the pitiful attentions of a dying man. He was simply amazed that she cared about him at all.

He would do absolutely anything for her and that meant, in part, keeping his emotions in check. If she knew, it would only make things uncomfortable between them. The possibility of her reciprocating his feelings was entirely in the realm of fantasy and he would not disrespect her by indulging it. However, if she did, the best thing he could do for her was stay out of her way so that she could find someone who had at least a chance of deserving her and who would live long enough to do more than break her heart. 

He certainly had no business wanting her in this state. Due to the drug in her system, she would likely consent to a batarian if it meant calming the hormones screaming at her to mate. She could not give informed, reasonable consent. Therefore, the things he was feeling for her right now were even more wrong than they normally were. He could not return her attentions and if he did, when she sobered up, she would hate him and probably dismiss him from her crew. It would be no less than what he deserved. No, he would not take advantage of her. He forced his rising desire back down.


	2. Chapter 2

Mordin led them up to her cabin and scanned her before Thane released her so that she could go to her bed. He turned to go but Mordin stopped him. “Need you to stay, Krios.”

“Why?” he asked as Shepard went into the head.

“Someone has to stay with her. Impulse control virtually non-existent. If left alone, will return to station, seek out relief,” Mordin said.

He lowered his voice so that Shepard couldn’t hear through the door and said, “Mordin, I cannot. I am likely the last person who should be here. Can you not stay with her?”

“No,” Mordin said. “Not emergency, nothing I can do here. Daniel needs help in clinic.”

“What about one of the others?” he asked, bordering on desperation now. He needed to get away from her. “She is heterosexual. What about Samara or Miranda?”

“Samara unavailable. Really think she wants Miranda to see her like this?” Mordin pointed out. “Very soon, won’t care about gender. Only release. Accosting Miranda could prove problematic.”

“What about Garrus, then?” he asked. “He is her closest friend and would not take advantage.”

“Not an option,” Mordin said. “Desires commander. Only so much self-control.”

“And you think I am any different?” Thane hissed.

“Yes,” Mordin said with a nod. “Friendship underlying hormones. Shepard amenable to you. Likely would have suggested already if able to read signals. Likely thinks you uninterested now due to dead mate. Won’t risk friendship without assurance of success.”

Thane put a hand up and said, “Wait. Do you mean that Shepard desires me even without the drugs?”

“Yes,” Mordin said in the same tone he would use when explaining something obvious to a child. “Has shown signs since you were recruited. Elevated heart rate, temperature, spike in hormones.”

“Fuck!” Shepard said behind them as the door to the head opened. Thane turned quickly. “All right, you guys know something I don’t. Something is wrong. This isn’t me. Spill.”

“Aware of difference in behavior,” Mordin mused. “Uncommon. Small dose? Higher tolerance? More self-aware? Interesting.”

Thane asked, “Have you ever heard of the drug Azure?”

“The date rape drug?” she asked. “The one that makes women…oh, shit. No. Who? Damn it, I’m going to kill that damn bartender!”

“Yes,” Thane said slowly. “That one. You were dosed. That is the reason for your attraction to Feron at the bar and the reason why I extricated you. Unfortunately, Mordin seems to think it is unwise to leave you unattended. We are attempting to determine who to request to stay with you. He must return to the clinic.”

“I’ve been dosed with a drug that’s going to turn me into a raging nymphomaniac in, what, an hour or so, and you guys want to turn me over to one of the crew?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Who were you thinking would be a good idea? Garrus who freaks out at the slightest hint of interest? Grunt? Joker, whom I’d likely break? Tali? Maybe I can scandalize her enough to send her running back to the safety of the Flotilla. Kelly? She’d probably be happy to help me out. Or, we can make this whole situation even more embarrassing and ask Miranda. Ooh, or maybe Samara or Dr. Chakwas so I can feel like I tried to rape my mom tomorrow. No. Just get EDI to lock me in.”

“You are able to hack the door,” EDI pointed out, “though that would not be necessary. I could slow you down; however, if you ordered me to open it, I would be obliged to obey.”

“Guess you’re up, then, Thane,” she said with a sigh. Her eyes were almost pleading when she said, “I don’t trust anyone else not to use this against me later and there are a lot of people on this ship I don’t want to have sex with under any circumstances.”

“Shepard, I am not going to—” he protested.

“I’m not asking you to,” she said, cutting him off. “I’m just asking you to keep me from going out and fucking a batarian or propositioning one of the crew. You have the most self-control of anyone I’ve ever met. You’re the only one who can take me in a fight. Besides, if I end up stripping or something, it isn’t going to mean anything because you don’t want me.”

He told himself she did not sound disappointed on the last sentence. She could not be disappointed. That would mean that she cared whether he wanted her or not and that made Mordin’s assertion seem all the more likely. He could not allow himself to hope for that for either his sake or her own. He reminded himself that she deserved better. He was dying. He had killed his wife. He had seen the way Garrus’ eyes tended to follow her and the turian would be able to stand by her through everything to come. He was the one that she should be seeking out. The thought of those taloned, alien hands on her body made his throat tighten but at least Garrus would be able to stay with her.

He wanted to refuse. He wanted to walk away and pretend that none of this had ever happened. However, Shepard was asking for him specifically. She needed him. He could not deny her anything. He had sworn to protect her and she was vulnerable now in a way that she only trusted him to see. He wanted to ask Garrus as he was sure he would be far better for her and more interested than Shepard thought but he if she did something to scare the turian away, she would never forgive herself. 

“All right, Shepard,” he said.

“Good,” Mordin said. “Call if you need me. Should wear off by morning. Try to sleep, Shepard.”

“Yeah. So, uh, there’s no solving this problem on my own, is there?” she asked and Thane was fascinated by the way her color changed. He’d seen it happen before during battles and she’d been flushed all through the mission on Haestrom. The cabin was not hot and she wasn’t exerting herself. She couldn’t be embarrassed, could she? Shepard did not get embarrassed. Then, he recognized the meaning behind her question and felt the blood rush up into the back of his own neck. He violently pushed away the thought of her…solving her problem.

“No,” Mordin said. “Body’s desire is to mate. Self-gratification not the same.”

She groaned and said, “All right. Thanks, Mordin.”  
   
When Mordin left, Shepard moved to the small desk by her bed and picked up a datapad. She might as well get some work done while she was essentially confined to her cabin to keep herself from causing a diplomatic incident. A part of her couldn’t believe the way she’d behaved with Feron of all people and was glad that Thane had intervened but another part of her was raging in frustration.

She had managed to push back the rising tide of desire that was trying to overwhelm her in order to converse naturally with Thane and Mordin but she didn’t know how well her self-control would hold with Thane alone. She’d already made a fool of herself on the way back to the ship and she was just grateful that it was him and not someone like Jacob or, gods forbid, Zaeed. At least with Thane, she knew that he would never turn it against her or tell anyone even if he wasn’t ever able to forget it.

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair when she thought of the way his arm had felt around her and his waist had felt under her hand. She’d felt the slight tension that had run through him and heard the slight change in his breathing. He might not want her specifically but, at least for a moment, he’d been seeing her as something other than his commander and friend.

A part of her wished that he wasn’t so disciplined. If he wasn’t, then she might be able to walk up to him and put her hand on his waist, skim her fingers under his frill, nip the soft red hide at his throat. He would tense and might even gasp or groan before directing her back until the bed hit the backs of her knees. His fingers wouldn’t fumble on the clasps of her armor or hers on the clasps of his leather suit as both of them were familiar with the other’s garb after treating countless of each other’s injuries on the field and in the back of the shuttle. They would strip each other and then he would bend over her, pushing her down onto the bed. His tongue would be smooth and cool against the skin of her throat. It would be even nicer when it was trailing down her chest…

She curled her hand into a fist until her short nails were digging into her palm as she forced her thoughts away. This was Thane she was sitting here fantasizing about! Thane, who was her friend. Thane, who was dying. Thane, who was still in love with his dead wife. Thane, who was sitting right there on her couch reading one of her books. He didn’t want her. He wanted Irikah. Fantasizing about him like this was a violation of his trust. It was wrong.

Allowing herself to indulge in the fantasy for even a few moments had been a bad idea. She wanted to rip her clothes off and throw herself at him. She wanted to ride him until they both collapsed from exhaustion. She wanted…she stifled a growl of frustration and, with feigned casualty, picked up the datapad and began to pace the floor as she tried to turn her focus to the report that Tali had put together for her. If anything could cool her ardor, it should be this. She didn’t even understand half of it and wasn’t sure right now why she’d bothered to have Tali send it to her. If there was a problem, Tali would either fix it or tell Shepard what she needed to fix it and Shepard would get it for her. She didn’t need details but she’d wanted the quarian’s opinion of the new ship. She just hadn’t realized that was going to involve a report that required a quantum engineering degree to comprehend.

The report couldn’t hold her interest and the slow pacing she was doing wasn’t enough to dispel the energy building up inside of her. This was getting uncomfortable. She tossed the datapad onto her desk below her display case and went over to press her forehead against the fish tank. She wished that she had taken Samara up on her offer to teach her meditation techniques. Perhaps that would help her now. Thane could do it. However, bringing him into her proximity was probably a bad idea. She wanted him too much. 

The cool glass of the fish tank felt good against her overheated skin. She raised an arm above her head and tried to focus on the fish swimming around oblivious to everything outside of their perfect little world. She was distracted, though, by the way the light flickered and was dismayed to realize that her biotics were flaring. She was focusing so much energy on controlling her impulses that she wasn’t able to devote any to controlling her biotics.

“Are you well, Siha?” Thane asked from behind her. She felt his hand come to rest hesitantly on her shoulder and fought the urge to lean back into him. If she did, she’d end up wrapped around him with her mouth on his and that would just make him even more uncomfortable.

“Fine,” she bit out. “Probably not a good idea to touch me, though. Or stand that close. The other side of the Sahrabarik might be far enough away.” She banged her head lightly against the glass and the fish scattered. He stepped back and she straightened. “I’m going to go take a shower. A cold one. A really, really cold one.”

It turned out that cold showers didn’t work on women the way they supposedly did on men. She didn’t know if they actually worked for men or not but it certainly didn’t for her. By the time she was finished, she was just frustrated and freezing. She dried her hair with her omni-tool and pulled on the sweatpants and hoodie she’d brought in with her before going back into the cabin and climbing into bed so that she could wrap the blankets around her shivering body. 

“I really hate you right now,” she said.

“Why?” he asked with an amused chuckle.

She said, “I know your intentions were good and I’ll thank you tomorrow but right now, all I can think is that I could be in a bed with a sexy drell having a damn good time and, instead, I’m locked in my cabin, freezing my ass off, and am definitely not having fun. I haven’t been this cold since Noveria and I haven’t been this frustrated since I was a teenager fooling around in the shuttle bay with one of the other spacer kids and his dad caught us and made us get out of the Mako.”

“You fooled around in a Mako?” he asked incredulously.

“Didn’t everyone?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Though my experiences with…romance would be considered limited. I did not have much of a childhood and Irikah was the first woman I truly cared about.”

“Fuck,” she cursed viciously and jerked herself down onto the bed. She covered her head with the blankets to hide the shame and something else that burned her cheeks. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so miserable. She was hornier than she had ever been, more frustrated than she could imagine, and now she was fantasizing about someone who was still in love with a dead woman. A knot rose into her throat and threatened to choke her.

She felt the bed dip and his hand grasped her shoulder. He tugged the blanket down and tilted her face so that she was looking at him. “Siha,” he said. “If you still desire me tomorrow, I am interested in discussing it. However, I will not take advantage of you and I am not even certain if this could work or how. I have never felt affection for another species before but I will not deny that I am drawn to you.”

“I’ve wanted you since the moment you dropped down from that vent on Illium with the sun behind you,” she admitted. 

“Shepard,” he said again and leaned down to press his forehead to hers. “Are you sure you would not prefer someone better? I have nothing to offer you but heartache. My life is counted in months even without this mission. You deserve better than someone you will have to carry. You deserve better than a man who knows nothing but death and lies.”

She reached up and cupped face in her palm as she fought for control. “Thane, you are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are beautiful, wonderful, amazing, strong and brave and compassionate and kind and I am so damn proud of the man I’ve watched you become. Don’t ever try to tell me you aren’t good enough. You are one of the best men I know.”

“How can you say that, Shepard?” he asked miserably. “I could not even save my wife.”

“You don’t think I felt the same way after Akuze?” she asked. “My whole team died because I didn’t put the pieces together fast enough. You didn’t send those men after your family. You did everything you could to avenge them. You have to stop blaming yourself for the actions of others, sweetheart.”

“I was supposed to be her protector,” he said. “It was my responsibility.”

“Then learn from it. Make it count,” she said. “You will never again make that mistake. You will never take your loved ones for granted. You will be better for Kolyat. You aren’t going to abandon me, either. I couldn’t do this without you. We’re a team. We’re both better with each other whether you want to admit it or not.”


	3. Chapter 3

Thane buried his face in her neck and breathed deeply. The heat that she’d managed to tamp down while he needed her came raging back in force. Her arms went around his neck of their own volition and her head fell back as his warm breath bathed her throat, chasing away the last of the chill from her shower. His arms slid around her, making her hands clench on his broad shoulders. He stiffened as she arched into him. Finally having his arms around her shattered the last vestiges of her control. 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” she groaned. “I’m sorry. Fuck. Thane, please!” Her breath came in rapid pants. She felt like her body was on fire. There was a gaping emptiness inside of her that demanded to be filled. She didn’t want Feron. She didn’t want Garrus. She needed Thane. She needed him to touch her, fuck her, love her. She needed him as badly as she’d needed air over Alchera, needed him so badly it was a physical ache in her bones, a raging inferno in her blood and she writhed against him. “Thane, this hurts. Help me. Fuck me, sedate me, knock me out, something. Please, Thane.”

She’d never begged a man before in her life and a part of her was ashamed at her wantonness but most of her couldn’t care. She scraped her teeth along the side of his neck and pressed herself fully against him. His scent, his strength, his ragged breath, the rumble building in his chest, the press of his fingers along her spine as he fought valiantly for control all served to undermine the last crumbling vestiges of her own. She heard herself continuing to beg and bit down on her lip to quiet her pleas.

He gasped as she nipped at his throat. “I should go. I must go,” he said suddenly.

She had just enough presence of mind left to release him. She couldn’t force him. She wouldn’t force him. It didn’t matter that her body and mind were screaming at her, that she was now riding the ugly side of desire, the side with teeth and talons that scraped along her bones and tore at her sanity. She wouldn’t put this on him. His arms left her as he pulled away and she bit down on the pad of flesh at the base of her thumb hard enough to flood her mouth with the coppery tang of her own blood. The pain was clarifying and she said, “Go. Get Chakwas. Knock me out. I can’t control myself anymore. Fuck! I am going to murder that goddamn batarian!”

“Damn it, Shepard!” he exclaimed, reaching for her hand.

“It’s fine,” she insisted. “Go before I forget that I love you and jump you whether you want it or not.”

“You love me?” he asked, sounding stunned.

“You have to ask?” she countered, squeezing her eyes shut as she fisted her hands in the sheets to keep herself from reaching for him again. Damn, this hurt. She had never realized that wanting someone could hurt so badly.

“Mordin,” he said and she realized he was on his comm. “Does Azure affect emotion or just hormones?” There was a pause and he said, “You are certain? All right. My thanks.”

Firm hands gripped her ankles and pulled her legs down. She gasped as she felt her pants being lowered over her hips. He stripped her quickly as she opened her eyes and stared at him in confusion. “What are you doing?” she groaned.

He answered sincerely as he removed his armor, “You love me. I love you. We both desire each other. Right now, it is causing you more pain to turn you down when nothing will change tomorrow. So if we are able to figure this out, I am going to make love to my Siha until it does not hurt any longer.”

“I, uh, did some research,” she admitted.

“So you were deliberately teasing my frill,” he said with a small grin.

“Yep,” she answered shamelessly and tugged his head down so that his lips met hers. His answer was immediate and soon the taste of his tongue was in her mouth and they were tumbling back onto the bed together. Her hands flew over his scales, tracing the darker patterns that covered his body before smoothing over his muscular back. He groaned into her mouth and she felt his hands slide over her body. He noted the areas that made her gasp, the ones that made her groan, and the ones that drew broken cries from her.

He learned that she liked the sensation of his nails dragging down her back and she learned that he purred like a cat when she nipped at his throat. He learned that scraping his teeth over her shoulder made her arch into him and rake her nails down his back and she learned that licking his frill made him go rigid and loudly groan her name. He found that fisting his hand in the hair at the nape of her neck made her gasp his name.

Despite her desperation, he took his time driving her up. She was surprised when he knelt between her legs and lowered his head. Her gasp turned to a moan as his tongue found her clit and his fused fingers slid into her. He learned from the sounds she made and the movements of her body and brought her to the edge more than once with a teasingly sadistic twinkle in his obsidian eyes before moving up her body and kissing her deeply. She could taste herself on his tongue and that in itself was almost enough to undo her.

When he slid his length into her in a single smooth stroke, she cried out and wrapped herself around him as she trembled in his arms. She was whole, complete, filled in both body and soul. He buried his face in her neck again and she heard him breathe her name like a prayer. Her heart swelled and she kissed his throat as her hands roamed over his body. “You’re beautiful,” she gasped. “Gods, Thane, you’re perfect.”

“I believe that is supposed to be my line,” he said with a soft chuckle as he pressed his lips to her forehead. “You are exquisite, Siha.”

Her eyes widened as she felt him begin to move inside of her. “Good?” he asked in a tight voice as she gasped his name.

“Oh, gods,” she moaned and raked her nails over his back. She let out a strangled cry when he withdrew and then forcefully hilted himself inside her again before flaring his barrier. “Oh, fuck, Thane!” she shouted as her body bowed into him and stars burst behind her eyelids. He thrust into her hard, trusting her to take what he gave. He drove her beyond thought, beyond words, into a blissful incoherency as he rumbled and groaned things her translator couldn’t understand. Her own biotics flared in response to his.

“I love you, Thane” she gasped. “I’ve always loved you. I will always love you. I’m yours, body, heart, and soul. Stay with me.”

He whispered her name and his free hand slid beneath her hips and lifted her to him as he picked up both speed and force until he was slamming into her as his control rapidly unraveled. When he felt her tighten against him as the first wave of her orgasm hit, he flared his barrier again and the fields of dark energy they created merged like another kind of joining.

They lay where they were, breathing heavily and clinging to each other, as they returned to themselves. She felt his corona fade and he looked at her. “Are you certain about this, Siha?” he asked breathlessly. “I can walk away now and it will be as if this never happened.”

“I’m sure. Are you?” she asked nervously.

“I am certain. I love you, Siha,” he said with a shy smile. He grew hesitant and his fingers trailed lightly over her belly as he said, “Dr. Chakwas mentioned…she said that I am a viable candidate for a lung transplant. I refused her before because I felt that I had nothing left to live for. Now, however, I have you and Kolyat. I would remain by your side if I could. If you want me here.”

Her eyes lit and she said, “You would do that for me?”

“I would do anything for you, Siha,” he said sincerely.

He rolled onto his side and tucked her up beside him. Her release had eased the urgency and his fingers sliding gently over her back relaxed her. She breathed in the scent of him and felt the tension flow out of her body as he nuzzled her hair. Sleep crept in and claimed them both and, when they woke, they reached for each other again. Their lovemaking was slow and gentle as they reaffirmed the declarations of the night before.

On Omega, Aria smiled.


End file.
